Look for it low in the southwest at dusk. (Venus is slightly higher in the evening sky each night this month). We are still near the beginning of Venus’ apparition as evening star; it gets higher and easier to see for the rest of this year and is spectacular for about the first half of 2012.

Mars rises around midnight and is now high in the south at dawn. Although not nearly as bright as Venus or Jupiter, Mars has brightened enough to rival the brightest stars in the sky, and will keep brightening all winter as Earth approaches it.

Saturn remains in the morning sky this month.

Look low in the southeast at dawn, near the star Spica. (From the Big Dipper’s handle, arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica).

The Summer Triangle sets in the west. Watch for the Great Square of Pegasus almost overhead at dusk now and in the west by Christmas. Facing north, you’ll see five stars in a distinct ‘M’ like shape—this is Cassiopeia, the Queen. Her stars are about as bright as those in the Big Dipper, and she is directly across the North Star from that Dipper. In late autumn, as the Big Dipper hugs the horizon and actually sets for us in Houston, Cassiopeia is high in the north. Taurus, the Bull rises in the east. Look for the Pleiades star cluster above reddish Aldebaran. Dazzling Orion, the Hunter rises shortly after dusk (by month’s end, it is already up at dusk). As Orion enters the evening sky, we transition from the relatively dim evening skies of autumn to the brilliant stars of winter.

The Full Moon of Saturday morning, December 10, enters the Earth’s shadow, causing a total lunar eclipse.

Unlike last year’s event, however, this eclipse heavily favors western observers in North America; we miss most of it here in Houston. However, the Moon does nick the edge of Earth’s umbra at 6:46 am that morning, when it is a scant three degrees above our horizon in Houston. If you have a northwest horizon utterly clear of trees or buildings, you might try to observe the very beginning of the eclipse before moonset.

At 11:30 pm on Wednesday, December 21, the Sun is directly overhead as seen from the Tropic of Capricorn, the farthest point south where this is possible. That makes December 21 the winter solstice, the date when the noon Sun is lowest in the sky, and when we have the fewest daylight hours of the year. However, the earliest sunset of the year here in Houston is not on the solstice, but approximately on December 2! That’s because the Earth speeds up on its orbit as it approaches perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) next month. This acceleration shifts sunrise, local noon, and sunset slightly later each day this month and next. The effect is smaller that that of the Sun taking a lower path across the sky, which normally dominates in causing earlier sunsets and later sunrises. But the Sun’s apparent path varies very little near the solstice itself, allowing the secondary effect of the Earth approaching the Sun to predominate. For most people, then, (those who witness sunset but sleep through sunrise), days will seem to lengthen throughout December, although they don’t really begin lengthening until December 21.

We are making improvements to the main telescope at George Observatory! Visitors on Saturday, December 10 and December 17 will find the 36-inch Gueymard telescope closed for repairs. Our 14-inch east dome telescope and 18-inch west dome telescope will still be open to the public, however, so we hope you’ll join us anyway! Also, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on Saturday this year; the observatory will be closed on December 24 and 31.

Visit www.hmns.org to see the Planetarium’s film Schedule.

On most clear Saturday nights at the George Observatory, you can hear me do live star tours on the observation deck with a green laser pointer. If you’re there, listen for my announcement.

The ‘main event’ of December evenings occurs in the southwest at dusk, where you can watch Venus pull away from Jupiter. Look southwest right as night falls for the two brightest things there except for the Moon. The brighter one low in the southwest is Venus, which outshines everything else in the night sky. Jupiter is the dimmer of the two, although it still outshines all the stars we ever see at night. Venus and Jupiter begin the month about 2 degrees apart (your finger at arms length blocks about 1 degree.) However, Venus will extend that gap quite noticeably each night, until it appears high above Jupiter on December 31.

Mercury emerges from the Sun’s glare in time to form a nice pair with Jupiter on New Year’s Eve. As you prepare to ring in 2009, take a moment to look at Mercury just to Jupiter’s left in late twilight. That same night, the Moon will be near Venus. Saturn can be found high in the south at dawn. Mars is lost in the Sun’s glare this month, and will remain out of sight into 2009. It is directly behind the Sun (in conjunction with the Sun) on December 5.

The enormous Summer Triangle, consisting of the stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair, sets in the west. The Great Square of Pegasus is overhead at dusk. The star in its upper left hand corner is also the head of Andromeda. Facing north, you’ll see five stars in a distinct ‘M’ like shape—this is Cassiopeia, the Queen. Her stars are about as bright as those in the Big Dipper, and she is directly across the North Star from the Dipper. In fall and early winter, while the Dipper is low and out of sight, Cassiopeia rides high.

Dazzling Orion rises in the east, reminding us that winter is on the way. His belt points up to Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the Bull. By 9 pm tonight (7 pm by New Year’s Eve), the Dog Stars Sirius and Procyon will have risen below Orion in the east. Sirius is the brightest star we ever see at night.

Moon Phases in December 2008:

1st Quarter December 5, 3:25 pm
Full December 12, 10:38 am
Last Quarter December 19, 4:30 am
New December 27, 6:22 am

At 6:04 am on Sunday, December 21, the Sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn, meaning that the North Pole is tilted as much as possible away from the Sun. This is the winter solstice. For people in the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 has less daylight and more night than any other day of the year.

However, the earliest sunsets occur on December 1 and 2. We are already close enough to the solstice that the Sun’s apparent path across the sky on December 21 is only slightly lower than on any other day this month. Meanwhile, Earth is about to make its nearest approach to the Sun, called perihelion, in January. As a result, the Earth is speeding up. The effect isn’t much (Earth’s orbit is nearly circular), but it’s enough to make both sunrise and sunset a little later each day this month and next. With the Sun’s apparent height in the sky not changing that much in December and January, the small effect of Earth’s acceleration near perihelion dominates. Since most of us sleep through sunrise and witness sunset, the days seem be slightly lengthening between the beginning of the month and the 21st, although they are actually getting slightly shorter.

In less than a week, people all over the country, including right here at our museum, will be celebrating Halloween. Perhaps your workplaces and schools are already festooned with ghosts, skeletons, graveyards, and the like. If you stop and think about it, you may wonder just how it is that we came to celebrate by trying to disguise ourselves or by trying to frighten people. Is this a trick or a treat?

The short answer as to why we celebrate this time of year with images of death is that we are in the middle of autumn, the season when nature itself is dying. To fully understand why we celebrate Halloween when we do, we must fully understand the seasons.

Earth orbits the Sun with its axis pointed at the North Star, Polaris. As a result, its axis is tilted by about 23.5 degrees with respect to its orbital plane. This tilt, combined with Earth’s revolution around the Sun, causes the seasons. If the North Pole leans towards the Sun, the Sun is higher in our sky and we get more direct sunlight. Also, daytime is longer than nighttime. As the North Pole begins to tilt away fron the Sun, the Sun appears lower and lower across the sky, and daytime gets shorter and shorter. Eventually, the slanted-in solar rays and short days bring about winter. Very cold air masses form in the darkened Arctic and begin to move south, some of which can even reach Houston.

Keep in mind that the Earth’s axis does not tilt back and forth; it points at Polaris the whole time. In June, the North Pole is leaning towards the Sun, but by December, the Earth’s motion has carried it to the other side of the Sun. The North Pole, still tilting the same way, now leans away from the Sun.

A common misconception is that the Earth is closer to the Sun in summer and more distant in winter, and that is what causes our seasons. In fact, Earth’s perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) occurs just after the new year (January 1-4), while aphelion (greatest distance from the Sun) occurs around the 4th of July. Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, but the Earth-Sun distance does not change by enough to affect our seasons.

In the cycle of seasons, there are four points of note. At the March equinox, neither pole is tilted toward the Sun and the Sun is directly overhead at the equator. The is the vernal (spring) equinox for us and the autumnal (fall) equinox for folks south of the equator. At the June solstice, the North Pole is tilted as much as possible towards the Sun, and the Sun is overhead at 23.5 degrees North (the Tropic of Cancer). This is the summer solstice for us and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. At the September equinox, once again neither pole tilts toward the Sun, and the Sun is again overhead at the equator. This is our fall equinox and their spring equinox. At the December solstice, the North Pole is tilted as much as possible away from the Sun, and the Sun is overhead at 23.5 degrees South (the Tropic of Capricorn). This is the winter solstice for us and the summer solstice below the equator.

We generally think of these points as the beginning of spring, summer, fall, and winter, but it doesn’t have to be that way. After all, nothing magically happens with our weather on these dates. We could just as well consider these points the midpoints of each season. In that case, the seasons would begin and end at points roughly halfway between the equinoxes and solstices, in early February, May, August, and November. If the equinoxes and solstices are ‘quarter days,’ the points halfway between them become the ‘cross-quarter days.’

The ancient Celts of Europe appear to have divided their year in precisely that way. Gauls living in what is now France used a calendar of twelve lunar months with a 13th month added every 2.5 years (similar to the Hebrew calendar today). Their two most significant months were Gamonios (lunar month corresponding to April/May ), which began the summer half of the year, and Samonios (lunar month corresponding to October/November) which began the winter half of the year. Julius Caesar noted that daytime followed nighttime in Celtic days. By extension, the dark (winter) half of the Celtic year preceded the light (summer) half, making Samonios the start of their new year.

The Celts in the British Isles (Irish and Scots) also had festivals aligned with the cross-quarter days. In early February was Imbolc (or St. Brigid’s day). Weather predicting traditions of this day are preserved in our current Groundhog Day. Traditional May Day celebrations are similar to those of the Celtic Beltane. Lughnasadh, in early August, marked the start of the harvest.

The most important, though, was Samhain (pronounced ’sah win’, not ‘Sam Hane’, due to rules of Gaelic spelling), in early November. This three-day festival marked the beginning of the winter half of the year and the start of the whole year, like Gaulish Samonios. It was the close of the harvest opened at Lughnasagh, and the time for culling excess livestock. At this time, the veil between the living and the world of the dead was considered thinner than usual, and people looked forward to meeting and communing with ancestors and relatives who had died. A ‘dumb supper‘ was set aside for departed relatives. To scare away unwanted spirits, people dressed in frightening garb. Note that these spirits were considered unpredictable and possibly mischievous because they were not the familiar ancestors–not because they were particularly evil. Divination was also practiced at this time, as people sought to predict whom they would marry or how many children they would have.

Doing the math, you’ve probably figured out that Halloween is not quite halfway from the equinox (September 22) to the solstice (December 21). But remember, the Celts used a lunar calendar. They celebrated their festivals on a certain phase of the Moon, possibly full moon, occurring nearest the cross-quarter day. Upon the adoption of the Julian calendar, which was not strictly lunar, the festivals were moved to the beginning of February, May, August, and November, although this meant they were no longer exactly on the cross-quarter days.

In the eighth century AD, Pope Gregory III moved the church’s commemoration of the souls in heaven (All Saints’ Day) from May 13 to November 1. Another name for All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Day. (’Hallow’ is an older term for ’sanctify’ or ‘make holy.’ Think of ‘…hallowed be thy name’ from the Lord’s Prayer). The next day became All Souls’ Day. The day before All Hallows Day or All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. The traditions of Samhain, with its similar focus on honoring the dearly departed, were a natural fit for All Hallows Day and All Hallows Eve.

Halloween, then, is ultimately just one expression of the human need to come to terms with death as a natural occurence and to honor those who have gone before. In the season of the fall of the leaf, with the Sun taking a slightly lower path across the sky each day, the natural world is going through its own ‘death,’ providing a perfect context for our own activities. We can therefore think of Halloween itself as a treat, not a trick.